Recently I found myself flipping through a scrapbook my mom made me. I’ve looked at the book many times, but this time these two pictures caught my attention.

I found myself chuckling and thinking, “I was in missions training long before I had any thoughts of doing missions.” Something insignificant suddenly radiated with new meaning.

The experience reminded me of the many ways God prepared me for the work I do today. Going to physical therapy school sometimes feels like a fluke. Growing up I planned to be a teacher, but the thought of getting in front of a group of people horrified me. Unlike friends who knew they wanted to study medicine from childhood, I randomly made the decision as a senior in high school and just stuck with it.

Jody Conradt, the famous UT women’s basketball coach, came to speak to our senior class about choosing a career. She said you should do something you love, as passion mattered more than money. I loved sports and helping people. As a distance runner, I had spent some time with a couple of physical therapists, so I decided to study PT. But why didn’t I pick athletic training?  I actually spent more time with them. God had a plan.

Not long after finishing PT school, I found myself at a Bible school, serving on staff as a missionary and even getting out of physical therapy for a time. My family wasn’t sure what I was doing, especially after giving up not only my career but also a nice apartment and income in order to live in an old dorm with up to five other women on a limited income. To the best of my ability, I felt I was following God’s leading, even though I didn’t always understand it either. When I moved to Guatemala, my uncle told me he could now see how God had been directing me through those crazy choices I had made.

When I first went to Guatemala just to see if I could use my PT skills on the mission field, I ended up training local workers in basic therapy techniques for working with children with disabilities. I had no pediatric experience. It didn’t matter to Sharon Harvey, nurse and co-founder of ASELSI. Was I willing to come?

It all reminds me of the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand. The disciples saw a need and went to Jesus to do something. Jesus said, “You feed them.” They responded with complaints about the cost and their lack of food. Three loaves and five small fish fed five thousand men plus the countless women and children present. Everyone ate until they were full and then the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of leftovers. God had a plan: “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).

What is God’s current plan for you? What is he asking you to do now that seems impossible?

How has God worked in your life? What has he used that seemed insignificant or insufficient to do something far beyond what you could think or imagine?